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Queen shows fighting spirit, walks out of hospital

Queen Elizabeth II has left a central London hospital after a one-day stay caused by a severe stomach bug. She walked unassisted out of King Edward VII Hospital Monday afternoon wearing a red dress, and was driven away in a motorcade. (March 4)
AP

Kim Hjelmgaard, USA TODAY
2:37 p.m. EST March 4, 2013

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II leaves King Edward VII Hospital in London on Monday after being treated for symptoms of gastroenteritis.(Photo: Will Oliver, AFP/Getty Images)

Story Highlights

Queen Elizabeth was admitted to the hospital on Sunday

At 86, the queen has expressed no desire to resign from her role

Buckingham Palace was not very forthcoming with details of her illness

LONDON -- Last month, USA TODAY wrote about the unlikely scenario that would see the United Kingdom's Queen Elizabeth take a cue from Pope Benedict XVI and resign her office due to health reasons.

No way, was the consensus from experts, and even from the queen herself -- based on past statements reflecting her attitudes to public service and the moral necessity to keep on keeping on. It's not starting the job that's difficult, it's seeing it through, another British female leader -- Margaret Thatcher -- is fond of remarking, a saying of her grocer father's. As far as anyone can tell, the queen wants to see it through.

And on Monday, she proved that when she walked out unassisted of King Edward VII Hospital in London after receiving treatment for a suspected case of gastroenteritis.

The well-being of Britain's official head of state is no trifling matter, of course, but the doting British press weren't given that much to go on in terms of reporting the queen's ailment, which forced her first hospitalization in 10 years. However, the subtext from the various non-announcements was clear, and it chimes with the queen's preferred operating mode: No reason for alarm, nothing to see here, move along now. Above all, there must be NO fuss. There certainly won't be any resigning.

Still, on Monday, as the queen spent her second day recovering at King Edward VII Hospital in London, the British bulldog spirit was once again in evidence. Buckingham Palace wasn't saying much. She's being assessed but is in good health. It's just a precautionary measure. She's in "good spirits." That kind of thing.

So what was a royal press to do? The Sun tabloid newspaper -- under the headline "Her Majesty the Queasy" -- focused on the queen's health record: Wisdom tooth removed in 1982, stitches in hand after a bite from her corgi in 1993, bloodshot eye in 2006, etc. The Daily Mirror noted that sometimes we just forget that she is 86, after all. The Daily Telegraph mused that even a highly devoted monarch needs to sometimes just let go and admit she's ill and get the necessary care.

Such was the dearth of available information that a great deal of column inches was given over to a discussion of two police officers who were standing guard outside King Edward VII's Hospital on Sunday evening. The two officers are known as "Big Tone" and "Little Tone," because -- you guessed it -- at 7 feet 2 inches Anthony Wallyn towers over his 5-foot-6 partner Tony Thich. "Big Tone," Sky News reported, gets 100 to 500 requests for a photo every day. Further, The Guardian is holding a "caption competition" where readers can speculate on what "these two amusingly paired officers" could be saying.